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Sunday, February 6, 2011

Apple Raisin Snack Bars (GAPS-legal, grain- and gluten-free)

These snack bars are amazingly easy to make, delicious, and filled with nourishing ingredients. They make me wonder why I ever tried store-bought snack bars, like Lara bars or Kind bars. This recipe was inspired by a recipe from Nourished Kitchen.

Soak pecans in water with a pinch of sea salt for 12-24 hours*. Rinse and drain well. Pulse nuts in a food processor until ground pretty well (but not too long or they'll start turning into nut butter). Dump nuts into a bowl. Then place apples, raisins, salt, and optional spices in food processorand let it whir until well-combined and chopped. This will take longer than you think, but just let it keep going around and around. Then add back ground nuts and whir until well-combined. Dump it all onto a piece of wax paper. Then rub a bit of oil onto your hands to keep them from sticking to the mixture. Use your hands to do any last mixing necessary to get a consistent mixture, then form the mixture into a mound. Refrigerate for a couple hours, and then cut into pieces.

You can also vary the nuts and fruit to make other types. Lemon blueberry is delicious (made using almonds, dates, and dried blueberries with a little lemon zest).

12 comments:

That is an excellent question. I had always assumed that drying the nuts after soaking was mostly for pleasing our palates, but your question gave me pause. I found a very informative article (http://naturalbias.com/a-hidden-danger-with-nuts-grains-and-seeds/) that basically says that soaking is the most important step, particularly a long soaking of at least 12 hours (but that cooking can be beneficial if there isn't time for a long soaking). If you are interested, below is a quote from the article. I also saw a recommendation in the comments section where the author recommends not cooking the nuts to keep the enzymes intact.

In nature, germination typically occurs when a plant seed encounters conditions that are favorable for its growth which typically involves water. As such, the germination of grains, nuts, beans, or seeds can be easily initiated by soaking them in water. Although mostly focused on grains and beans, research has shown soaking to be quite effective for the reduction of phytic acid in as little as 12 hours as well as the subsequent increase in mineral availability and for the reduction of protease inhibitors starting at about 36 hours. In both cases, the amount of reduction increases with time, especially for protease inhibitors. Soaking can also increase the content of some components of the vitamin A, B, C, and E complexes, and through the activation of amylase enzymes, helps to break down complex carbohydrates and improve their digestibility. This latter benefit is especially important for optimal digestive health because it will reduce the possibility of complex carbohydrates from being fermented in the intestines and contributing to the proliferation of undesirable bacteria.

When time is limited, the combination of soaking and cooking has been shown to be much more effective than only soaking for a short duration. However, because cooking has also been shown to be less effective at reducing phytic acid, soaking is still important. For grains and beans, light cooking is generally a good idea anyway since it further improves digestibility and deactivates natural plant toxins that may still exist after soaking.

This looks like something I made with almonds, however, I have trouble digesting fatty foods. Can you suggest a low-fat alternative to the nuts? It looks really yummy and I'm a lover of raisins, apples and cinnamon.

Hmmm, I'm really not sure of a lowfat alternative. I have a hard time digesting almonds, I think because of their skins. Perhaps if you tried a different kind of nut that is easier to digest, such as cashews?

I've started popping the almond skins off my almonds after soaking them... I love them this way! It takes a lot less time to dehydrate them without the skins, as well. One note: if I take the skins off right away after draining the rinse water, it's easy to take the skins off. If I wait till the skin is partially dry, it's harder and I might have to blanch the almonds (a few seconds in boiling water) to get the skins to pop off easily again.

About Me

I am a homeschooling mother of two and homeopathic practitioner. My family has been following a nourishing, traditional diet (based on the research of Weston A. Price) since 2005. More recently, my family followed the GAPS diet for over 18 months. I am a chapter leader for the Las Cruces chapter of the Hunt Gather Grow Foundation, a co-leader for the Las Cruces chapter of the Weston A. Price Foundation, and a regular contributor to Real Food and Health magazine. In my spare time, I enjoy cooking, yoga, gardening, photography, writing, and anything that allows me to make a spreadsheet.

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